17 A. Findings of fact 1. Background 85. Between December 2001 and April 2002, there was a mobilization within society to 23 protest against various government policies. On April 11, 2002, the commanders of the Armed Forces stated their repudiation of the authority of the President of the Republic, and the next day General Lucas Rincón informed the population that “the President of the Republic was asked to resign from his position, 24 which he accepted.” 86. In the early morning hours of April 12, 2002, Pedro Carmona Estanga, one of the leaders 25 of the civic protests, communicated with jurist Allan Brewer Carías and sent a vehicle to pick him up at his residence. Brewer Carías claims he was taken to Fort Tiuna, the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense and of the General Command of the Army, and that: They took me to a small cubicle where Dr. Carmona was; I greeted him and he asked me to analyze a document they had given him when he arrived there, to which end he put me in touch with two young lawyers by the names of Daniel Romero and José Gregorio Vásquez, who were the 26 ones who showed me the document […]. 87. That document, later known as the “Carmona Decree,” ordered the dissolution of the 27 established authorities and the establishment of a “government of democratic transition.” 88. At around midday, Allan Brewer Carías went to Miraflores Palace. That same day Mr. Pedro Carmona Estanga announced the dissolution of the constituted authorities and the establishment of a “government of democratic transition,” among other measures. Hugo Chávez was reinstated as President of the Republic on April 13, 2002. 28 89. The resolutions adopted by the Permanent Council and General Assembly of the Organization of American States defined the events of April 12 and 13, 2002, as a “abrupt interruption of 29 the democratic and constitutional order” in Venezuela. 23 “The political climate in Venezuela has shown a marked tendency to radicalization, which became accentuated in the early months of 2002 and culminated in a breakdown of the constitutional order on April 11, with its subsequent restoration on April 14 of that year.” IACHR, Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Venezuela, 2003, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.118 doc. 4 rev. 1, October 24, 2003, Executive Summary, para. 4. During the serious events of April 11, 2002, the Commission condemned the coup d’état carried out against the constitutional order. 24 Albor Rodríguez (ed), Verdades, mentiras y Videos. Lo más relevante de las interpelaciones en la Asamblea Nacional sobre los sucesos de abril, Libros El Nacional, Caracas (2002), pp. 13 and 14, cited in: original petition received on January 24, 2007, p. 9. 25 Allan Brewer Carías is a specialist in constitutional law, who expressed severe criticisms of a series of decisions adopted by decree by the executive branch in Venezuela. He has been a senator and cabinet minister, and was a member of the National Constituent Assembly in 1999. Original petition received on January 24, 2007, paras. 13 to 20. 26 Annex 1. Statement of Allan Brewer Carías to the prosecution service. Cited in the formal indictment of Allan Brewer Carías, January 27, 2005; Annex 5 to the original petition received on January 24, 2007. 27 Annex 2.The Decree is contained in the formal indictment of Allan Brewer Carías, January 27, 2005; Annex 5 to the original petition received on January 24, 2007. 28 “The Commission issued a press release to this effect on April 13, 2002, in which it expressed, inter alia, its strong condemnation of the acts of violence and its regret that the most senior authorities were removed from public office, and cautioned that these acts represented a breach of constitutional order.” IACHR, Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Venezuela, 2003, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.118 doc. 4 rev. 1, October 24, 2003, para. 7. 29 Annex 3. OAS, Resolution of the Permanent Council, The Current Situation in Venezuela, OEA/Ser.G, CP/doc. 3616/02, May 28, 2002. See: CP/Res. 811 (1315/02). IACHR, Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Venezuela, 2003, OEA/Ser.L/V/II.118 doc. 4 rev. 1, October 24, 2003, para. 534.